Eithnas Finished Book

I actually had this book finished in 2013 but what with family at home over the holiday and other distractions I am only now getting around to posting about it. This time I made a meandering book, I find books without spines are easier. I like to use a different method for each book so that way my book making skills will be improving too. I used some nice Japanese paper for the cover which suited the sumi-e drawings inside.

My second alphabet / Mon second alphabet

Bonsoir,

voici enfin mon second alphabet, je l'ai fini tout à l'heure. Je n'ai pas pu faire de "suivit" de cet alphabet car j'ai eu des empêchements et lai fait en 2/3 fois. J'espère que pour A Letter A Week 2014, j'y arriverais! Je l'ai fait avec des pastels à l'huile.

Hi,
Finally, here is my second alphabet, I finished just now. I could not "followed" this alphabet because I had ​​impediments and made it in 2/3 times. I hope for A Letter A Week 2014, I could do it! I make it with oil pastels!

So, this is my alphabet! / Donc voici mon alphabet!

En tout cas, A Letter A Week 2013 fut une expérience très sympathique, qui m'a donné du challenge et redonné l'envie de travailler ma calligraphie!

Anyway, A Letter A Week 2013 was a very nice experience, which gave me a challenge and the desire to work my calligraphy!

Sorry for the late! / Désolée pour le retard!

Fun in the Sun Letters

The final letters for Fun in the Sun

The same letters with hand stitching.

and two squares in the style I have been developing for the Ramshackle series.

and with stitching

These have helped to give an easier layout. 26 doesn't divide up into much!

sur le fil...

Faute de temps, je n'ai pas réussi à faire les deux alphabets! Toutefois j'ai absolument voulu relier le premier: "lettres pour la paix". Je me suis inspirée d'un stage réalisé avec Stéphanie Devaux et j'ai employé de la tarlatane.

J'ai réalisé un simple album accordéon tapissé de tissu recto/verso dont les bords sont teints en bleu ou en marron pour reprendre les couleurs de mes pages.
Pour la couverture et le dos j'ai écrits en gouache orange au tire ligne pour donner un peu de dynamisme!
Voilà ma réalisation. Je m'inscris pour 2014, j'espère réussir à faire les 2 alphabets. Merci à Fiona de nous proposer ce merveilleux défi. 

second ALAW alphabet completed

The laser-cut versions of my personal hand-written true-type font produced a set of cut-out letters, all in 3mm thick card, in both upper and lower case.  I decided to use the upper-case set for my second alphabet.

In this case, I simply mounted the individual letters on folded heavy-weight cartridge paper, which I had previously cut and folded and assembled into a 26 sheet concertina book, which fits into a simple hand-made box.  Like my peace alphabet, this set of letters have been sitting waiting for me to find the time to mount and finish them for some long time.

I realise that I have cheated rather on the concept of posting one letter each week.  That had been my firm intent, but life has been getting in the way, and while my conscience has been badgering me regularly to post them and to put them together into a book, I haven't been good at keeping to schedule.

Anyway, the letters are made, the book is assembled, a box has been constructed, and - because I dare not risk further prevarication and delay - here they all are.   I have called them 'silent letters' - but it's a misnomer because, in comparison to my abc for peace, these positively shout out loud:  they are capitals, they are in black on white, they stand proud of their mounting concertina, and they demand to be taken notice of.

Because the profile of each letter has come from my original handwritten script, in normal hand-writing size, the enlargement to 220 point reveals interesting details in the shape of the line in each letter.  So the profile has peculiar irregularities, dips and bends, which show up particularly well in these raised, cut-outs.  Here are two good ones - Q and F.

The finished book is 7mm or 3" square and just fits neatly into a slightly larger custon-made box.

I have been a laggardly contributor to ALAW 2013, because, like all of us I guess, lots of other things have demanded my time and attention during the year.  However,  I have enjoyed having this project at the back of my mind during other distractions, and I feel I have, latterly anyway, got back my initial excitement about the whole idea of creating unique alphabets in this forum.  So I hope to be able to carry on into ALAW 2014, but with a firm resolution to make my pieces in proper time and order, and to keep up with regular, if not weekly, postings to the blog.

I've also, as in previous years, much enjoyed seeing other people's work as it has emerged, and am intrigued by your ingenuity and creativity in finding so many ways to present and interpret such familiar but fantastic symbols.